Round Table Books specializes in Rare, Antiquarian and Collectible Books, particularly in the areas of History, Art, Arthurian History and Literature, Napoleonic Biography and History, Poetry, and illustrated editions of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. We gladly accept consignments, both of individual books and entire libraries. All of our books are described accurately, packed carefully and shipped promptly. We offer superior customer service. Your satisfaction is guaranteed. Any book may be returned for any reason for a full refund. Round Table Books is open by appointment only. Please call Arthur at (312) 502-7335 to schedule an appointment.

Webster, Noah
An American Dictionary of the English Language (Two Volumes, Complete)
Publisher: S. Converse, NY, 1828. Very Good with no dust jacket. First Printing. Hard Cover FIRST EDITION (one of only 2, 500 copies). Quarter bound in light brown calf over original black boards, spines in six compartments separated by raised bands, gilt lettering on burgundy labels in one compartment, volume numbers, gilt, in one compartment, date blind-stamped in lowest compartment. Engraved frontispiece portrait of Noah Webster painted by F.S.B. Morse, engraved by A. R. Durand, and printed by J.R. Burton. The volumes printed by Hezekiah Howe of New Haven, Connecticut. Copyright dated April 14, 1828. Includes: Preface (3 pp.); Introduction (46 pp.); Advertisment (4 pp.); Philosophical and Practical Grammar, &c. (29 pp.); Directions for the Pronunciation of Words (2 pp.); Alphabets (1 pp.); the sections comprising definitions under each letter are printed in three columns and are unpaginated; Additions and Corrections (2 pp.). First edition of the most important American dictionary, the "most ambitious publication ever undertaken, up to that time, upon American soil" (Grolier "American 100"). [Grolier, American 36][PMM 291][Skeel 583][Sabin 102335]. Expertly rebacked, new endpapers over original marbled endpapers. Corners rubbed and worn, text blocks tight and square, hinges strong, paper supple, very little foxing. Former owner's names (Thomas S. Nelson and Benjamin Wright) in elegant hands on first preliminary page, otherwise unmarked. An extremely handsome and well preserved copy. A large and heavy set. VERY GOOD. Engraved Frontispiece Portrait. 4to 11" - 13" tall

Twain, Mark
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Tom Sawyer's Comrade)
Publisher: Charles L. Webster and Company, NY, 1885. Very Good with no dust jacket. First Printing. Hard Cover Publisher's full green cloth, reverse lettering on gilt panel and additional gilt lettering on spine, gilt decoration and lettering on cover, black embossed decoration on spine and embossed black lettering and decoration on cover. Illustrated with 174 B&W drawings by E. W. Kemble and tissue-protected photographic frontispiece of bust of the author. First issue, with the following points: (1) Copyright date 1884 (leaf bound in - McBride State C); (2) On page 13 the illustration "Him and Another Man" is listed as being at page 88, when in fact it appears on page 87 (McBride State A); (3) The typographical error "with the was, " instead of "with the saw, " appears on page 57 (McBride State A); (4) The final "5" on Page No. 155 is added in a different font (McBride State C); (5) There is no signature mark "11" on page 161 (McBride State A); (6) On page 283 the fly on Silas' pants is straight (leaf tipped in - McBride State C); (7) In the portrait frontispiece, the cloth under the bust is visible, the imprint is "Heliotype, " and the statement "Karl Gerhardt, Sc." has not been added to the finished edge of the shoulder (McBride State A); (8) On page 143 the "l" in "Col." is missing at line 1 and the "b" in body is broken at Line 7 (McBride State A); in addition, (9) On page 9, the word "decided" appears instead of the correct "decides"; (10) On page 58 the "d" in "touched" is broken at line 29; (11) On page 59, the "t" in "let" is missing at line 10; and (12) Also on page 59, the "d" in "would" is broken at line 11. [McBride, 93][ BAL 3415][Grolier American 100: 87]. This copy has been expertly rebacked with the original spine and covers laid down. The volume is housed in an extremely fine custom-made clam-shell box. An excellent example of the first appearance of this classic work. VERY GOOD. B&W Drawings. 8vo 8" - 9" tall. 366 pp

Lewis, C. S.
The Chronicles of Narnia - A Complete Set of all Seven First Editions, each with Original Dust Jacket, and each in Fine Matching Custom Clamshell Box
Publisher: Geoffrey Bles / The Bodley Head, London, 1950-56. Near Fine in Near Fine dust jacket. First Printing. Hard Cover A very beautiful and rare complete set of first editions of each of the seven books in the Chronicles of Narnia series by C. S. Lewis. Octavo. Seven Volumes. All of the volumes are in their original publisher's full cloth bindings with their original dust jackets, all of which are in Mylar. Each of the volumes is in a separate fine uniform custom quarter leather clamshell box with the spines in six compartments, separated by raised bands, gilt lettering in three compartments, gilt borders on covers. All of the volumes are illustrated by Pauline Baynes, and volumes One and Two include her full-color frontispieces. VOLUME ONE: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. London: Geoffrey Bles, (1950). Full green cloth, silver lettering on spine. Former owners' signatures on fep and ffep, edges and spine moderately sunned. The price-clipped dust jacket is chipped with small loss at the head of the spine and corner of the front panel, else fine. Green clamshell box. VERY GOOD/VERY GOOD. VOLUME TWO: Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia. London: Geoffrey Bles, (1951). Full blue cloth, silver lettering on spine, maps on endpapers. Small bookseller's label and laid-in bookmark from Blackwell's. A fine copy in an only slightly sunned, near fine dust jacket. Blue clamshell box. FINE/NEAR FINE. VOLUME THREE: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. London: Geoffrey Bles, (1952). Full blue cloth, silver lettering on spine, maps on endpapers. Spine moderately sunned, former owner's signature and date (30-11-55) on preliminary page, else near fine. The unclipped dust jacket shows only minor wear to extremities and light soiling to rear panel. Red clamshell box. VERY GOOD/VERY GOOD. VOLUME FOUR: The Silver Chair. London: Geoffrey Bles, (1953). Full royal blue cloth, silver lettering on spine, maps on endpapers. The volume is in exceptionally fine condition. The price-clipped dust jacket has only one small closed tear on the upper panel, otherwise bright and fresh. Green clamshell box. FINE/NEAR FINE. VOLUME FIVE: The Horse and His Boy. London: Geoffrey Bles, (1954). Full silver cloth, silver lettering on spine, maps on endpapers. Old light damp-stain on spine of volume and dust jacket, very minor foxing on endpapers, else near fine. The unclipped dust jacket has a few small tears along edges, tape repairs to verso only, and one small chip on the rear panel. Red clamshell box. VERY GOOD/VERY GOOD. VOLUME SIX: The Magician's Nephew. London: The Bodley Head, (1955). Full green cloth, silver lettering on spine. The volume has a slightly darkened spine. The unclipped dust jacket is exceptionally nice with light foxing on the rear panel, and extremely minor wear at the spine ends, else fine. Green clamshell box. NEAR FINE/NEAR FINE. VOLUME SEVEN: The Last Battle. London: The Bodley Head, (1956). Full blue cloth, silver lettering on spine. The volume shows only the slightest shelf-wear. The unclipped dust jacket is mildly

Lodge, Edmund
Portraits of Illustrious Personages of Great Britain; Engraved from Authentic Pictures in the Galleries of the Nobility and the Public Collections of the Country with Biographical and Historical Memoirs of their Lives an
Publisher: Harding and Lepard, London, 1835. Very Good with no dust jacket. 1. Leather First complete edition. Bound in half burgundy morocco over marbled boards, spines in six compartments separated by raised bands, gilt lettering in two compartments, intricate gilt tooling in remainder, t.e.g. Illustrated with 240 fine tissue-protected engravings after works by Titian, Hoppner, Gerard, Van Dyke, Flick, Holbein, Kneller, Lawrence, Gainsborough, Copley and several others. Includes: Preface, Appendix to Preface (with testimonials from Sir Walter Scott and Joseph Harding), and Chronological Arrangement of the Plates. Each portrait is accompanied by a biographical and historical account of the subject, written by Lodge. Sir Edmund Lodge, KH (1756–1839), was a long-serving English officer of arms, a writer on heraldic subjects, and a compiler of short biographies. In 1782 he became Bluemantle Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary at the College of Arms. He subsequently became Lancaster Herald of Arms in Ordinary, Norroy King of Arms, and Clarenceux King of Arms. In 1832, he was made a knight of the Hanoverian Royal Guelphic Order. Called his "chief work" by the DNB, Lodge commenced work on the first volume in 1814 and completed the project in 1834. [DNB XII: 57-59]. Sir Walter Scott praised this great work of Lodge as "a collection which at once satisfies the imagination and the understanding, showing us how the most distinguished of our ancestors looked, moved, and dressed, and how they thought, acted, lived, and died" [Allibone 1120]. The engravers who contributed include: James Thomson (1788-1850); Samuel Freeman (1773-1857); John Cochran; William Thomas Fry; William Holl (1807-1871); W. H. Mote; and many others. Edges and corners mildly worn, mild foxing, former owner's armorial bookplate on feps, otherwise unmarked, tight, square, and clean. A very handsome set. VERY GOOD. Engravings. 4to 11" - 13" tall

Thiers, Louis Adolphe
The Consulate and the Empire of France under Napoleon (12 Volumes, Complete)
Publisher: J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, 1893. Very Good+ with no dust jacket. First American Edition. First Printing. Hard Cover Original publisher's Plum cloth binding with gilt lettering and elaborate Napoleonic design on spines. Illustrated with 36 Steel Plates comprising authentic portraits, battle scenes, representations of sieges, etc., in Twelve Volumes. Teg. A very attractive set of this indispensable history of the period (1799-1821). More than 6, 000 pp. Louis Adolphe Thiers (1797-1877) "Statesman and historian, born at Marseilles. He came to Paris in 1821 and soon made a name as a political journalist and a historian. Between 1823 and 1827 he published the first of his two famous works, "Histoire de la Révolution Française". After the July Revolution (1830) which, as one of the founders of the newspaper Le National, he helped to bring about, he was one of several historians in the Government. In 1840 he went into opposition over foreign policy, retired, and wrote his second great work, Histoire du consulat et de l'empire (1845-62). He returned to active politics in 1863, led the peace negotiations in 1871, took a major share in planning economic and military reconstruction, and was first President of the Third Republic. His two works, models of clear-flowing narrative, are among the standard histories of the Revolutionary and immediately post-Revolutionary eras" (The Oxford Companion to French Literature) "No other work approaches the depth and scope of this work--absolutely essential. "[Peter Holmes][HBS 24708]. All 12 volumes are in very good+ condition, displaying only minor age and shelf-wear. A few volumes have noticeable, but minor, wear to spine and boards; it is, however, a solid, heavy, and attractive set. VERY GOOD+. Steel engravings. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall